Three new Irish partners added to Maples Group’s global network

The Maples Group employs nearly 500 people in Ireland through its international law firm, Maples and Calder, and its financial services firm, MaplesFS. Globally, the Group comprises over 2,500 professionals in 16 locations worldwide and Maples and Calder (Ireland) LLP has announced the promotion of three of its senior lawyers to its growing partnership.

The newly elected partners, Frances Hamilton (Funds & investment management), Jordan O'Brien (corporate) and Vanessa Lawlor (finance), join a team of over 140 partners across the firm's global network and further strengthen the depth of expertise in some of the firm's core practice areas.

The three new appointments are effective as of January 2023 and form part of the international law firm's annual promotions where 13 new partners and of counsel were appointed across six of the firm's global locations. Peter Stapleton, Ireland managing partner, said he was very pleased to share the news.

“I am delighted to announce these appointments and I congratulate Frances, Jordan and Vanessa on their much-deserved success,” he said. “Each has earned a strong reputation domestically and internationally for providing high-quality legal advice and their dedication to collaboration and teamwork strengthens our practice and enriches our culture.”

The three new partners have a wealth of experience between them.

Frances Hamilton joined the firm's Funds & Investment Management team as an associate in 2015. She specializes in advising on the establishment, authorisation, operation and maintenance of a wide spectrum of Irish regulated funds (including UCITS and AIFs) across the full range of investment strategies and asset classes.

She has particular technical expertise and interest in sustainable finance and ESG, advising asset managers on sustainable finance disclosure requirements and related matters as part of compliance with the EU's Sustainable Finance Action Plan. She is also a member of 100 Women in Finance and Irish Funds working groups.

Fellow partner Jordan O’Brien joined the firm as a trainee in 2011 and qualified into the corporate team in 2014, having trained in the firm's Dublin and Hong Kong offices. He specialises in corporate law, advising on a variety of transactions, in particular mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and venture capital, corporate restructurings, equity incentives and shareholder arrangements. He also advises in respect of day-to-day corporate and commercial matters.

The third newly appointed partner, Vanessa Lawlor, joined the firm's banking and finance practice as an associate in 2016. She specialises in advising a broad spectrum of lenders (Irish and international financial institutions, alternative lenders) and borrowers on a range of domestic and cross-border finance transactions including real estate investment and development finance, fund finance, corporate debt, leveraged and acquisition finance, refinancings and restructurings. She is also a member of 100 Women in Finance and Women in Fund Finance Committee (Europe).

“These promotions demonstrate our commitment to nurturing and growing our talent pipeline, as well as the broad range of career-progressing opportunities available in Ireland and across our international offices,” said Peter Stapleton. “We are proud to have experienced lawyers with deep technical, sectoral, and jurisdictional knowledge located in the markets close to our clients.”

Indeed Maples and Calder Ireland clients can benefit from full service and specialty legal services, as it is the leading international law firm in the jurisdiction. Over the past 17 years, it has grown exponentially, developing an award-winning partner base through internal promotions and recruiting the best talent in the market.

Its carefully designed Trainee Solicitor Programme has certainly had a role in developing home-grown talent, offering aspiring lawyers a unique experience to train in a truly international law firm with a variety of career-progressing opportunities including secondments to international offices. Notably, the three recent appointments push the numbers of partners in Dublin to an all-time high with nearly 40% of the partnership comprising industry-leading female partners.

In addition to this, the firm enjoyed another record-breaking year in 2022 and was proud to receive a number of notable industry accolades for its market-leading services and solutions. Impressively, 39 of its Irish lawyers were ranked by leading industry journals including a strong representation at partner, of counsel and associate levels.

Also, its reputation for excellence and innovation was strengthened across all major sectors including in the areas where the most recent partner promotions were made. Key deals spanned the areas of financial services, sustainable finance, digital assets, venture capital, banking and private equity. Additionally, the firm expanded its CSR, environmental and DE&I activities including the recent launch of a new sponsorship with the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) a number of leading charities and health and wellness events.